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Well...there are pics and reviews of the cannon popping up as it's shipping. General vibe is...nice piece, too expensive for what it is.

That is a surprise in no way at all.

Yes, there a no Production pics surfacing yet for the Snowtrooper...but as with the recently released "Bossk" (mine shows up next week), no production pics showed up early either and judging from the pics and chatter appearing around the boards on that one....the figure is a knock-out quality-wise.

The clones have been terrific...and Sideshow has shown an affinity for really nailing the "military"-type releases (their "GI-Joe" line has had one great release after another)...so I'm hopeful that this "Hoth-geared" Imperial will be a stunner...a $150. stunner? Well....that remains to be seen...but as has been the case with this line lately, the release schedule shrinks, but the prices go up.

Here's hoping the quality goes up too...

Bossk is such a different story from the Snowtrooper that I really can't gauge anything from it. I had been thinking of asking if I can drive out to their location in Thousand Oaks to pick it up, but round trip with gas prices where they are right now that'd be about $12 for me, which is what I'd be paying to sit on my butt and let them deliver it. Alternately, I'm considering asking them to delay shipment of mine until after Feb 19th when I get paid again, that'll also give me a chance to see other reviews (this assuming that they get it on time in the first place).

Originally Posted by sergiurusu

Hope they will fix the squinting eyes

Yeah, I agree on that, the eyes on the prototype are too small.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Well...just wanted to mention I got my Trooper. I'll post some detailed thoughts and some more pics later (here's quick one for now), but my initial impressions are...it's a knock-out! REALLY like this figure...so cool to have something from Hoth at last from Sideshow and it's a pretty cool figure...I'll give a closer look later...

Anyway, it's a very good piece, even if the figure still looks a tad baked with his squinty eyes (and they're painted dark green! I know it's the lens color, but c'mon, that's just funny). Were it $90 I'd say it's a home run. At $150, I have to be more critical to the small things (and this list is all minor stuff, rest assured):
- The gloved hands are WAY too big, I think they made them big to match the bulkier forearms since there's an undersuit and armor at play.
- The forearm armor is too big, probably for the same reason as above.
- The squinty eyes, of course.
- The helmet skirt is a nice rubbery material, but it's bigger than any Snowtrooper I've found yet, and it's not shiny, it's too dirty, and its wrinkles are too thick.
- Backpack is maybe 10% too big, and using it as the tightening element for the front chest plate doesn't work so the plate flops forward a little.
- There's a mold mark on the left side of the helmet.
- All the hands' armor plates, left and right, use the same exactly paint for the weathering - not a mirror, IDENTICAL, probably they were all using the same exact mask since the armor piece is symmetrical so they didn't need to mold left and right. This is possibly the most nitpicky thing ever.
- The codpiece sits too high, this is a problem I've had with other armored figures but it's especially bad here because it's using the belt system of the suit which keeps them moving together.
- The suit is a little tricky to work with, it doesn't stuff all the way into the boot tops so it bunches between the kneepads and boots, and a similar problems happens at the forearms which is an issue IMO at the wrists where it poofs out.
- The inside of the skirt and armor parts shows clean white.

So those are the nitpicks, and they're pretty small, they'd be entirely overlook-able had this thing not been so much more expensive.

The high marks:
- The joints all work very nicely, not too loose or too tight.
- The paint looks astonishingly good on the hard armor and the bodysuit and boots.
- The boots have a great sculpt top to sole.
- The helmet skirt is rubbery, not locked to position.
- Hard armor looks exceptionally well-scaled in terms of thickness, and crisply molded to mimic the movie armor's relative simplicity.
- Looks pretty good on the stand, especially wearing the snow base over that.
- Cloth suit looks great and feels like suede.
- Yup, there's the classic Kenner blaster rifle for the exclusive, not too shabby.
- Makes the Hasbro figure look like a pile o' sloppy plop.

Initial opinion, Grade: B (would be an A were it not on a higher pricepoint. There simply isn't enough to shout its value from the rooftops).

I feel like Sideshow should come to Comic-Con this year with a panel explaining why costs have gone up and where they're going in pieces like this.

Also, the bases have to get larger, it's time. As much as I like the snow base, only the simplest pose can use it.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

JT, your points and observations are well-taken (I'd love to have someone as detail-oriented on my team at work - would make my life easier).

That said, I'm going for a "B" as well...but for some different reasons...very minor things...I'll get' em out of the way quick here...

- wish they would've included a white stand...as it is, I've swapped mine out for the one that came with Rex. And yes...I'm all for bigger stands too...or at least include both waist and crotch-grabber supports to increase posing/display options (and it wouldn't cost them much to do this while adding some value to the figure)

-it would have been cool to have interchangeable face masks for more display options and increased sales of multiple figures for popular "Troop Building". I don't mind the "sculpted" mask or it being slightly oversized. That actually makes head poses a little easier and less awkward looking with the extra size.

-and the most minor of all...the box. I don't like the tray-stacking of accessories that went with this figure....seems a little crammed in there. The old two-tray way makes for a nicer display for those who choose to keep the figures boxed while still highlighting everything that comes with it. I get that it's most likely a cost-cutting move, but presentation is everything with these and with the current price point we're seeing, every little perk can count.

-my two cents on the price. As someone who deals a bit in manufacturing and shipping and who has watched costs jump significantly over the past few years (and expect even bigger jumps this year), I don't begrudge Sideshow for the price increases on the figures. What has also changed is the number of sixth-scale offerings compared to other products like statues. Sixth-scale probably requires quite a bit of research compared to some of these other products and so the focus has likely moved towards cutting back offerings and reducing edition sizes to help compensate for production and shipping expenses.
I'm not making excuses for them...but looking back over the last year at the sixth-scale offerings we've gotten...it's been a big variety and (at least to me) a fairly successful one. I couldn't stick with this line if it had the number of figures that say, 2007 offered...not at the current price point anyway.
As long as I feel the quality is there in both effort and execution...Sideshow will still have me collecting their figures. It's still there for me, despite the increases....for now.

Alright...off that soapbox and back to the Snow Trooper!

I really like this figure. The cut-n-sew team is just doing an excellent job over the past several figures with both material choices, detailing and assembly. A couple of stand-outs for me on his trooper are the boots...clever way of making it two pieces for more flexibility while concealing the break with the "straps" looks great! The face shroud may seem over-sized a bit, but that extra material allows for more versatility in display (as I mentioned above)and while the method of attaching the back pack may be a bit tricky, once on, it looks great and is a much better solution to keeping it in place than his Sandtrooper counterparts.

I don't know if the hands seem over-sized as much as bulky (it is cold-weather gear after all) but they are a little difficult for holding the weapons...takes a little work to get them there but it looks good once in place.

The base body for this one is also very good. Poses and stays in a chosen position well.

I'm liking the look of this one so much...I'm considering the E Webb...if I can end up with a deal somehow...we'll see...

This is another hit for Sideshow...a great start to what is (hopefully) many more Hoth-inspired figures. Really hoping for some Rebels now...

JT, your points and observations are well-taken (I'd love to have someone as detail-oriented on my team at work - would make my life easier).

Thanks! I'm sure it'd eventually drive you mad as much as it does everyone else, including me.

That said, I'm going for a "B" as well...but for some different reasons...very minor things...I'll get' em out of the way quick here...

- wish they would've included a white stand...as it is, I've swapped mine out for the one that came with Rex. And yes...I'm all for bigger stands too...or at least include both waist and crotch-grabber supports to increase posing/display options (and it wouldn't cost them much to do this while adding some value to the figure)

The white stand, I am of 2 minds: it'd look way better on the figure, but it wouldn't look as nice mixed in with the rest of my collection with all those black stands.

As for the waist-grabber stand, how would you attach that to this figure? I've been swapping out most of my waist-grabbers whenever I get free promo credits from Sideshow because I find them very limiting and difficult to work with. On this figure, I can't see an easy way to use a waist stand, the lower back is covered by cloth and by gadgets, I think they'd get in the way.

-it would have been cool to have interchangeable face masks for more display options and increased sales of multiple figures for popular "Troop Building". I don't mind the "sculpted" mask or it being slightly oversized. That actually makes head poses a little easier and less awkward looking with the extra size.

Interchangeable helmet skirts would have been awesome.

Not seeing how an oversized helmet skirt makes it less awkward looking and easier though.

-and the most minor of all...the box. I don't like the tray-stacking of accessories that went with this figure....seems a little crammed in there. The old two-tray way makes for a nicer display for those who choose to keep the figures boxed while still highlighting everything that comes with it. I get that it's most likely a cost-cutting move, but presentation is everything with these and with the current price point we're seeing, every little perk can count.

Yeah, no kidding! That lower tray taped into the upper was annoying, and when I put it back in the box I couldn't figure out what was wrong - turns out it's designed wrong, doesn't fit under the part of the upper tray that holds the backpack, so it bulges out.

-my two cents on the price. As someone who deals a bit in manufacturing and shipping and who has watched costs jump significantly over the past few years (and expect even bigger jumps this year), I don't begrudge Sideshow for the price increases on the figures. What has also changed is the number of sixth-scale offerings compared to other products like statues. Sixth-scale probably requires quite a bit of research compared to some of these other products and so the focus has likely moved towards cutting back offerings and reducing edition sizes to help compensate for production and shipping expenses.
I'm not making excuses for them...but looking back over the last year at the sixth-scale offerings we've gotten...it's been a big variety and (at least to me) a fairly successful one. I couldn't stick with this line if it had the number of figures that say, 2007 offered...not at the current price point anyway.
As long as I feel the quality is there in both effort and execution...Sideshow will still have me collecting their figures. It's still there for me, despite the increases....for now.

My step-dad is in manufacturing so I try to pay attention to a lot of that and apply it to what I know of Hasbro, GG, and Sideshow manufacturing. This is a big price jump from even the Clone Commander figures, who sport more armor and even custom sculpting and assembly, and usually have more accessories. I'm not seeing where the effort is coming from, and I'd like them to explain where this piece was expensive in execution because it seems no different than any other Stormtrooper / Clonetrooper out there.

So, are you going to buy the Tamashi Nations C-3PO at $400? It looks like the execution and effort are very strong on that piece, but I simply can't even pretend to afford that.

I really like this figure. The cut-n-sew team is just doing an excellent job over the past several figures with both material choices, detailing and assembly. A couple of stand-outs for me on his trooper are the boots...clever way of making it two pieces for more flexibility while concealing the break with the "straps" looks great! The face shroud may seem over-sized a bit, but that extra material allows for more versatility in display (as I mentioned above)and while the method of attaching the back pack may be a bit tricky, once on, it looks great and is a much better solution to keeping it in place than his Sandtrooper counterparts.

Kinda funny that you called out the cut & sew but then went to the rubber boots. I think the actual movie boot costume design is the same 2 pieces, both for Rebel and Imperial boots, so this is authentic to that rather than being a way around it.

I didn't find the backpack difficult to attach at all.

I don't know if the hands seem over-sized as much as bulky (it is cold-weather gear after all) but they are a little difficult for holding the weapons...takes a little work to get them there but it looks good once in place.

Check out the source images, they confirm it.

I'm liking the look of this one so much...I'm considering the E Webb...if I can end up with a deal somehow...we'll see...

See, that's trouble, you buy the E-Web and you'll end up buying ANOTHER Snowtrooper. I hear ya though, it is good enough to make the thought happen.

This is another hit for Sideshow...a great start to what is (hopefully) many more Hoth-inspired figures. Really hoping for some Rebels now...

Here's a few outdoor shots.....more to come later.

I dunno if I'd buy a Hoth Rebel Trooper or Officer, I've been pretty hands-off with the Rebel purchases so far, an interesting idea. Would you pay $150 for the trench Hoth rebel?

Cool shots, I wonder why these have the bodysuit look pink-ish where the other didn't.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Thanks. I am curious to know what you think of it, as you may be even more exacting in your demands than me.

In thinking about my previous comments, I think I need to give more mention to the weathering on the figure, it's very fine and subtle compared to past efforts, it definitely takes this figure to the next level, the hard armor shines great yet never looks clean and when you compare it to the unpainted interiors it's difficult to believe they're the same color plastic. And the cloth elements enjoy it just as much, when you compare it to the unweathered cloth area it's like night and day, or more precisely, "Hasbro and Sideshow" - sorry Hasbro.

I just looked over the prototype pictures, I was going to say this figure is one of the few that lives up to the prototype images, but actually except for the helmet skirt, this figure's deco is BETTER than the prototype. I've never had opportunity to say that about a Sideshow figure before, production ends up missing the artistry and realism of those prototype paint jobs, yet here it's the other way around, this production figure's weathering takes it to the next level.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.